The Fresh Loaf

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Lavender Bread

joc1954's picture
joc1954

Lavender Bread

While staying at Island of Hvar in middle Dalmatia I got inspired by big fields of lavender to give a try to a lavender bread. Right now there is a crop of lavender going on and when you pass such field the smell of lavender is simply amazing. Island of Hvar is known to be the island with most sunny days in whole Dalmatia what provides a very good natural conditions for growing lavender, wine and olive trees. As the landscape is very rough with a lot of rocks and small patches of soil the lavender fields are surrounded by stone walls made from rocks which were manually removed centuries ago in order to prepare small micro fields where people could plan olive trees and lavender. The lavender crop is performed completely manually old fashioned way with sickle. I took some shots of this process while passing people harvesting lavender by bike.

Typical lavender field at Island of Hvar with love trees in the background.

 Lavender from backyard where we stay on holidays.

I started lavender yeast water with one tablespoon of honey, some lavender flowers and water. I will use it to make another batch of lavender bread later on this week.

 

As this was the first time I was making lavender bread I searched through TFL posts and found this interesting post and comment by hanseata (here) with the idea that one should used melted butter to infuse lavender taste into the food. For my bread which was made out of 600g of bread flour I used lavender flowers from 8 stems.

Using butter to capture the lavender flovour.

I prepared the mixture of 70g of butter and lavender flowers (from 8 stems) at the time when I prepared my levain, so about 6 hours before mixing the dough.

The rest of the process was similar to my standard procedure. I used 600g of strong bread flour (type 850), initially 70% of water with additional 5%  added after first 30 minutes. The butter was warmed up and strained before initial mixing which included all flour, water, 100g of starter and all butter. Bulk fermentation was bout 3 hours and then immediate cold retard for about 11 hours. Baked in iron-cast skillet.

The result: I was extremely pleased with result. Whoever tasted the bread agreed that the flavor of lavender was maybe a little bit too strong when you tasted the bread without anything on top of it like butter with jam. So for next time I will use lavender flowers only from 5-6 stems.

This bread perfectly pairs with butter, creme fraiche and any kind of jam, but also fits perfectly together with the Parma ham.

 

 

 

Happy baking, Joze

 

Comments

IceDemeter's picture
IceDemeter

and what a beautiful place you get to vacation in!

I am intrigued by the method of infusing the flavour in to butter --- it makes perfect sense that a flavour oil would more easily infuse in to another fat / oil instead of in to water, and that you found the flavour to be quite intense.  I would imagine that the aroma was quite intense when you first sliced in to it!

Thanks so much for sharing!

joc1954's picture
joc1954

I found that information hereon TFL (I posted the link to that comment). I agree that it makes perfect sense to "melt" lavender natural oil into butter. The flavor was quite intense and for next time I will probably halve the amount of flowers. The flavor is still intense after 2 days while the bread was staying in the fridge.

I learned that I will have to be very careful with dosing when I will be baking with my lavender yeast water. Probably 10-15 grams of yeast water will be enough to start multiple stage levain build.

Happy baking,

Joze   

Yippee's picture
Yippee

You've had unique ideas of making bread, Joze!  Last time was tarragon, this time lavender.  I'm very curious what the bread tastes like!  When your yeast water is ready, will you use it with infused butter, or just by itself?  I wonder if it will produce a strong flavor alone.  Looking forward to your next lavender bread.  The island is beautiful (googled) and looks like a perfect place to relax.  Enjoy your vacation and happy baking!

Yippee

joc1954's picture
joc1954

I got this idea because we had several times lavender ice cream so the "idea" was just "in front of my nose". There is a restaurant where you can get lavender cake. Actually the cake is made of  kind of a chocolate dough but then the lavender syrup is used to moisten the whole cake and it gives a perfect aroma.

Several years ago when we tasted for the first time the lavender cake we also bought some lavender syrup and it goes perfectly with champagne wine.  Putting  a little bit of that syrup in well cooled champagne makes a unique drink that fantastically pairs  with lavender cake.

About lavender yeast water: I will use it to raise the bread without butter. In first attempt I will start with 15-20 g of lavender yeast water and prepare the levain/starter in several builds. Last year I was experimenting with sage yeast water which had also very strong flavor so using just 20-30 g was enough. The lavender yeats water has even stronger flavor so I have to start with a small dose.  

I agree that the island is great as most of the islands in Adriatic see are. I am having vacations in this part of the world for last 58 years. I speak the local language and also the food is very close to what we eat in Slovenia.

Happy baking, Joze 

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Beautiful bake and post.  Thanks for sharing your adventures in lavender with us :).  I'm sure next bake you will adjust the intensity and it will be just right.

Happy Baking, Ian

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

I have never smelt lavender, but I've always heard it has a unique strong smell that can be difficult to tame. Anyway, that is a great looking island and lavender field along with that beautiful bread of yours.